


I Won't Be Home For The Rest Of The Night

by CasTheButler



Series: The Bartender Series [2]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Eden's Twilight, Gen, Male Friendship, Neil comes to hang out at the bar, mostly Neil and Roland just kind of bond, the Andriel is mostly just mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 06:14:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11983854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CasTheButler/pseuds/CasTheButler
Summary: Neil and Andrew have a fight, Neil learns to let someone new in.





	I Won't Be Home For The Rest Of The Night

**Author's Note:**

> so basically I decided to make a series of stories about Roland having/forming friendships with all of Andrew's lot/The Monsters

Roland isn't surprised to see the flash of dark red hair at the end of the bar. He is surprised to see it alone. Neil's been coming to Eden's Twilight for going on three years now. Roland glances briefly around looking for Andrew before setting a sealed can of Sprite in front of Neil.

“Thanks,” Neil says softly, wrapping his fingers tightly around the drink. He doesn't open it.

“What brings you here?” Roland asks. The heavily implied ‘alone’ has a teasing lilt to it, however, he doubts Neil would appreciate him actually verbalizing it. Roland is aware Andrew and Neil are two very different people, but it makes him slightly uneasy to see them apart, especially in this place. Roland can only think of a handful of times he's seen one without the other.

“Me and Andrew had an argument,” Neil replies. It's hard for Roland to tell if he's upset, he's certainly not in a good mood about it at least.

“So, what? Did Andrew kick you out?” Roland asks. It still didn't explain why Neil was sitting there. His body shifted away from other patrons, a clear signal that he's not in the mood for talking.

“No,” Neil replies, ‘I kicked myself out.” 

Roland blinks at him for a second and pulls a bottle of vodka from under the bar. Neil grabs it and pours barely any into his now open Sprite. 

“It’s just that, you know how Andrew has problems, and I know you know I do too. Knowing and understanding don't make it any easier. I just...” Neil trails off. Roland does know, partially from things the boys had told him; other things he's extrapolated from media coverage. Mostly it's been Aaron's trial that had put the bitter cherry on top.

“First of all, if you’re going to put alcohol in your drink, put more in. You’re not getting drunk from that,” Roland tells him. 

Neil might be a notorious lightweight from years of not drinking and not getting to learn limits – the way most teenagers did at ridiculous house parties or breaking into their parent's liquor cabinets – and even he’d feel nothing from how little he's putting in. Neil looks Roland straight in the eyes and lets a couple more drops fall into his drink. Roland puts the bottle back under the bar with a grin.

“And secondly?” Neil questions.

“Does Andrew at least know where you are?” Roland asks. 

Neil looks like he’s thinking about the answer which probably means Andrew will know, but Neil hasn’t actually told him. Before Neil speaks, someone at the end of the bar vies for Roland’s attention and he has to leave. 

It’s nearly an hour before he manages to get back to Neil’s end of the bar, and he’s happy to see the man hasn’t moved. He puts another can in front of Neil.  
“What, no vodka?” Neil snipes. Roland grins back at him and shakes his head.

“I don’t know if you remember this but you don’t drink,” Roland jokes with him.

“You know I could just go buy drinks from someone else,” Neil points out. 

Roland is pretty sure he knows why Neil is sitting at the bar in this club talking to him instead of anyone else. Roland isn’t going to call him out on it though.

“Then you’d have to pay for them,” Roland says.

“That’s true. I’m going to go raid the supply at the house,” Neil says and hops off his chair. 

Roland grabs for him, making sure to cling onto the end of his sleeve instead of anywhere else. It's taken him a while but he's learnt. Neil turns to him in surprise.  
“Are you sure you should be alone right now?” Roland asks. “Do you want me to call someone?” 

Neil lets out a low laugh, and says, “I can handle being alone, but if you’re so worried come over after you finish work.” 

Roland releases Neil’s sleeve. “Sure, I’ll think about it.”  
Neil disappears into the crowd. Roland digs into his jeans and pulls his phone out. His fingers hover over Andrew’s number and then he sighs and puts the phone away. He has a job to do.

The night drags on longer than he expects, and he’s grateful for its end as he steps into the cold air of the open street. He pulls his phone out and hits the dial button. Several minutes later he knocks on a familiar front door and Neil swings it open, silent and bleary eyed. Neil walks back towards the living room and settles into the corner of the couch. He has Exy reruns playing on the television. Roland wonders if Neil knows he comes to watch as many of their home games as he can. The house isn’t unbearable but it’s cold enough that Roland starts poking around for a blanket; there's usually one around. Neil realises what he’s doing because he has a soft dark grey one thrown at him.

“Sit down and shut the fuck up,” Neil tells him.  
Roland obliges and tucks himself into the corner on the other side of the couch. Neil’s eyes stay mostly on the screen but he glances towards the front door at random intervals.

“Are you waiting for Andrew to come through the door?” Roland asks. 

Neil startles for barely a second and then settles back down. “Yes...No, I’m actually not sure” he admits.  
Roland shifts himself the slightest bit closer so he can throw half of the blanket across Neil's legs. Neil accepts it and curls his fingers into the fabric.

“You’re allowed to not be sure of things, it’s a part of life,” Roland tells him.

“Yeah well I’ve never had that luxury before” Neil snaps. He takes a sharp breath and continues, “It’s just I feel like I’m still running even after all this time. what if that never stops?” 

“You aren’t running. Come on, you’ve come to all the places you're easy to find. There’s a difference between running away and taking space.” There’s a click from keys turning to unlock the door. “You knew exactly how much space you needed because you knew I’d call Andrew.”

“Hello Junkie,” Andrew calls from the hallway.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think and if you'd like to see more.
> 
> Edit: work has been edited for grammar purposes.


End file.
